The Time of Troubles: A Historical Study of the Internal Crisis and Social Struggle in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Muscovy. By S. F. Platonov. Translated by John T. Alexander. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1970. xvii, 197 pp. $6.50, cloth. $2.45, paper.

Slavic Review ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-160
Author(s):  
Thomas Esper
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Social Struggle ◽  
Time Of Troubles

scholarly journals The Time of Troubles in Alexander Dugin’s Narrative

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-157
Author(s):  
Dmitry Shlapentokh
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Soviet Regime ◽  
Public Intellectuals ◽  
Positive View ◽  
Spiritual Wholeness ◽  
Soviet Russia ◽  
Time Of Troubles ◽  
Social Upheaval ◽  
New Time

Alexander Dugin (b. 1962) is one of the best-known philosophers and public intellectuals of post-Soviet Russia. While his geopolitical views are well-researched, his views on Russian history are less so. Still, they are important to understand his Weltanschauung and that of like-minded Russian intellectuals. For Dugin, the ‘Time of Troubles’ – the period of Russian history at the beginning of the seventeenth century marked by dynastic crisis and general chaos – constitutes an explanatory framework for the present. Dugin implicitly regarded the ‘Time of Troubles’ in broader philosophical terms. For him, the ‘Time of Troubles’ meant not purely political and social upheaval/dislocation, but a deep spiritual crisis that endangered the very existence of the Russian people. Russia, in his view, has undergone several crises during its long history. Each time, however, Russia has risen again and achieved even greater levels of spiritual wholeness. Dugin believed that Russia was going through a new ‘Time of Troubles’. In the early days of the post-Soviet era, he believed that it was the collapse of the USSR that had led to a new ‘Time of Troubles’. Later, he changed his mind and proclaimed that the Soviet regime was not legitimate at all and, consequently, that the ‘Time of Troubles’ started a century ago in 1917. Dugin holds a positive view of Putin in general. Still, his narrative implies that Putin has been unable to arrest the destructive process of a new Time of Trouble.

scholarly journals Service Tatars in the Diplomatic Service of the Muscovite State: The Baymakov-Rezanov Family

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Belyakov
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Classic Model ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
Time Of Troubles ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Over Time

Very little is known about diplomatic professionals specialising in eastern affairs in the Muscovite state until the seventeenth century. The issue has only occasionally been touched upon in some research works. This is explained by the limited number of surviving sources. For this reason, the Baymakov-Rezanov family is unique, as the extant data make it possible to trace the uninterrupted service of this clan’s representatives over the course of a century. This is thanks to cadastres and embassy records from both sides, a few extant documents from the Ambassadorial Prikaz, and the family’s persistent nickname. Ambassadorial service was a family business where traditions were passed from generation to generation, from elder sons to younger ones. Several generations of Baymakov-Rezanovs took part in organising the diplomatic contacts of the Muscovite state with Muslim countries as reconnaissance riders (Rus. stanichniki) and interpreters (Rus. tolmachi). They repeatedly headed diplomatic missions and were very well paid for their work. The examination of their family’s story makes it possible to observe the organisation of diplomatic service from a longer historical perspective. Initially, the technical side of contacts with the countries of the east was organised by princely Tartars, who served the grand prince proper. They were provided with land close to Moscow. Gradually, they started forming smaller groups of specialists, such as translators (Rus. bakshei), tolmachi, stanichniki, and the newly baptised (Rus. novokrescheny). This structure was largely destroyed by the Time of Troubles. This affected the circle of people recruited to the service; it grew considerably and was quite often created in accordance with the demands of the moment. Over time, it was predominated by service Tartars from Meshchera. The classic model of the peripheral staff of the Ambassadorial Prikaz, consisting of translators and tolmachi, only formed in the mid-seventeenth century as inherited positions dwindled significantly.

Russian Endeavors for the Polish Crown in the Seventeenth Century

Slavic Review ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Wójcik
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Political Rivalry ◽  
Time Of Troubles ◽  
Grand Duchy Of Lithuania ◽  
Grand Duchy

Polish-Russian relations have from their very beginning been characterized by intense political rivalry and military confrontation. This is no surprise, since after the Polish-Lithuanian union (1386, 1569), Poland was drawn into the conflict between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the great Muscovite principality over hegemony in Eastern Europe. Struggles between Lithuania and Muscovy were thus transformed into wars between the Russian state and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the reigns of Polish kings Stefan Batory (1576–86), Zygmunt III (1587–1632), and Wladyslaw IV (1632–48), the commonwealth gained a military advantage over its eastern neighbor. This was especially evident during the Time of Troubles (smutnoe vremia), when the Polish army occupied Moscow (1610–12) and when Wladyslaw IV defeated the Russians in the War of Smolensk (1632–34).

“I No Be like You”: Accra in Life and Literature

PMLA ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 252-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ato Quayson
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Local Group ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Local Elites ◽  
Social Struggle ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Families ◽  
Hybrid Forms

The sociocultural forms of accra, whose population is now an estimated 2.5 million people, grew form interactions with Europeans from the fifteenth century onward. By the end of the seventeenth century, there were three major European trading outposts on the coast—Ussher Fort (Dutch), James Fort (British), and Christiansborg Castle (Danish). Each European post imparted a particular character to its neighborhood and, more importantly, triggered specific dynamics of social struggle both between the locals and the Europeans and within each local group. Traces of the European influence can also be discerned in some of the street names—Bannerman Road, Hansen Road, Bruce Road, Lokko Road, Rev Richter Road, Joel Sonne Street—which evoke the Euro-African families that formed the earliest local elites. The postmodern maxims that reality is a product of language and that language is essentially unstable and contradictory are by now standard views in critical theory. But I sometimes wonder what conclusion the postmodernists would have come to if for their reflections they had taken not the history of Western philosophy but rather the evolution of the polyglot and hybrid forms of language, ideas, society, and culture that are abundant in the non-Western societies that make up the bulk of the world's population. Accra might have provided a rich site for such reflections.

The Problem of Advice in Muscovite Tales about the Time of Troubles

2020 ◽  
pp. 54-81
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Rowland
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Positive Evidence ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Old Russian ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
The Awakening ◽  
Time Of Troubles

This chapter mentions celebrated Russian historian V. O. Kliuchevskii, who complained that S. F. Platonov's Old Russian tales and stories about the time of troubles of the seventeenth-century had lacked significant aspects, such as political ideas. It analyses political ideas that could have been in Platonov's work that illustrated the awakening and development of political thought under the influence of the Troubles. It also talks about Kliuchevskii's famous Course in Russian History, where he commented extensively on new political ideas and cast them into a constitutional framework. The chapter suggests that the reason Kliuchevskii failed to produce positive evidence from Platonov's tales in support of his position is that they simply do not reflect the kind of constitutional sentiment he claimed to find in other historical sources. It describes the legal-institutional approach that Kliuchevskii brought to the problem that led him to treat Platonov's tales as a negative echo of ideas.

Black Monks and White Gold The Solovetskii Monastery's Prosperous Salt Trade during the Time of Troubles of the Early Seventeenth Century

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaiah Gruber
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Net Income ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Economic Profit ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Time Of Troubles ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Salt Trade

AbstractThis article represents a study of extant business records of the Vologda podvor'e of the Solovotskii Monastery from the Time of Troubles (1598-1613). The archival records show that the monastery continued to take in impressive sums from its salt trade during this period of crisis, and in fact was able to increase its revenue during the first two thirds of the Troubles. The study additionally demonstrates that both prices and sales volume oscillated (rose and fell) in a yearly pattern. However, over the longer term, volume remained constant while prices rose, thus producing the increase in net income. The detailed records of prices also enable a comparison to the late Prof. Hellie's data set in The Ecomomy and Material Culture of Russia. The Solovki salt prices recorded at Vologda manifest distinct price levels and behavior and thus significantly enhance Hellie's charts for the Time of Troubles period. The study as a whole illustrates that the Time of Troubles exerted quite an uneven effect on the population of Muscovy, with the wealthy monasteries often economically unaffected or at least less affected than the general population. It also reveals the extent to which economic profit remained a principal driving force of the monasterial “corporation” at this time.

scholarly journals Concubinage in Seventeenth-Century Chinese Literature: A Historical Study of Xing-shi yin-yuan zhuan

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yifeng Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Late Ming

This study explores the subtle patterns, variety, and changes in Chinese concubinage during the seventeenth century by focusing on cases described in Xing-shiyin-yuan zhuan, a seventeenth-century Chinese novel, and other literary and historical sources. It argues that the various social practices of concubinage in late Ming China diverged from government regulations. Chinese concubinage underwent remarkable changes by the seventeenth century in comparison with earlier periods. Even as concubinage was widely accepted, certain Confucian intellectuals of this period criticized the institution.

Who Counts as “People” (narod)? A Reconsideration of vox populi in the First Russian Time of Troubles (Smutnoe vremia)

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 168-178
Author(s):  
Isaiah Gruber
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Thought Experiment ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The People ◽  
Time Of Troubles ◽  
The Right

This article is intended as a thought experiment on the meaning of the Russian concept narod, generally translated “people,” during the Time of Troubles (Smutnoe vremia) of the early seventeenth century. The topic is significant, since in this period the Muscovite politico-religious elite propounded a notion of vox populi as a legitimizing and even decisive force in determining the right course of action for the entire realm. Two closely related concepts, the so-called zemskii sobor (Assembly of the Land) and the idea of Holy Russia or Rus’, have been much debated in historiography. I argue that these historiographic discussions could benefit from more emphasis on the fundamental linguistic concepts of the time, as distinct from the later conceptualizations of historians. The present reconsideration of the meaning of narod, or who was included within notions of “the people,” suggests that language as much as anything else played a role in the dramatic historical shifts that have shaped Russian culture to this day.

How Muscovy Governed: Seventeenth-Century Russian Central Administration

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Brown
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
The State ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Central Administration ◽  
Medieval Latin ◽  
Royal Court ◽  
Foreign Travel ◽  
Time Of Troubles ◽  
The Military

AbstractThe modern Russian state's first governmental administration, the chancellery system (prikaznaia sistema), guided Muscovy from the 1470s to the 1710s. A handful of state secretaries (d'iaki), subordinate clerks (pod'iachie), and several nascent bureaus matured into over ten permanent, well-codified bodies with decision-making boards, archives, professional hierarchies, and merit-based hiring and promotion by the 1550s. By the 1670s there were 60 chancelleries, and their Moscow staffs by the 1690s had increased to about 3,000, from the highest civil ranks (boyars and okol'niche) through the professional administrative ranks: duma state secretaries (dumnye d'iaki), the state secretaries, and clerks. The chancelleries (prikazy) discharged an array of state, royal court, and church functions, but military concerns were foremost. An arresting internal complexity typified the larger, more important chancelleries, like the Military and Foreign Affairs Chancelleries, divided into sub-units. The chancellery system was entirely homegrown, owning nothing to Roman Imperial and Medieval Latin traditions. The Russians borrowed some paperwork (scrolls) and zealous attention to that from the Mongols, as they did Byzantine and Lithuanian legal elements. Documentary language was a vernacular, Middle Russian register, with burgeoning specialized vocabulary and phraseology. Strict oaths guided conduct, though judicial bureau personnel were notorious for bribe-taking. Foreign travel accounts commented on the obsequiousness of documentary format wherein petitioners referred to themselves as “slaves” (kholopy) and used first-name diminutives. Seventeenth-century Muscovite centralized administration acquired Weber's hallmark features of a bureaucracy; the prikazy guided Muscovy and acculturated its subjects, from tsar to peasant, into its rationale, mechanisms, and operations. Weathering major social traumas and challenges, such as Ivan the Terrible's Oprichnina, the Time of Troubles, the Thirteen Years' War, and the 1682 Musketeers' Uprising, the chancelleries provided the bureaucratic continuity for the Imperial Russian and Soviet states.

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